‘Joburg needs someone with sound management skills’
CONTENTIOUS issues pertaining to black empowerment and labour are set to be a big headache for renowned businessman Herman Mashaba after his nomination as the DA’s Joburg’s mayoral candidate at the weekend.
Mashaba, founder of hair products company Black Like Me, who has said he views black empowerment as a noble but racist ideal, was described by DA leader Mmusi Maimane as the right man to run the country’s richest metro.
“Let’s agree on the fact that we need an economic plan, sound management skills and competent management at the City of Joburg. If we agree, then he’s the best candidate for the job,” Maimane said, speaking to John Robbie on 702 radio yesterday.
“It was important for the DA to put in someone with a business background who would make sure the city run like an efficient business that is able to deliver as an economic hub and absorb as many people into the job sector as possible. It could not be that 30.7 percent of people in the metro could not find work.”
Mashaba, author of Capitalist Crusader, has been criticised for his views on black empowerment and minimum wages, among other issues.
After his nomination on Saturday, he took to Twitter, venting: “I denounce policies that are used to buy political patronage. We need policies to benefit the majority.”
He viewed calls for minimum wage legislation as a “terrible mistake” that would lead to the demise of small businesses.
Maimane defended him yesterday. “Broadly speaking, Herman and I agree and the party agree on the principle of redress. But like you know, the codes that are around BEE are always a subject of great contention,” he said.
“Herman’s greatest challenge sits around the two components: one of them is how do we deal with labour legislation that requires that ownership be given only to certain individuals and you have to comply on a race-based level.
“Our argument is that there must be a component of that that must be in place… Furthermore, we must change the codes to allow certain aspects such as how do you reach the poor (and) that BBBEE does what it was intended to do, which is to include those who were excluded out of the economy,” added Maimane.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said the funders of the DA would be happy that a person who shared their ideology and who was a poster of a successful black person had been nominated as a mayoral candidate for the Joburg metro.
“But, the black middle class and township people won’t be impressed by his stance on BEE, although they may like his tone on corruption, so his nomination won’t necessarily woo votes for the DA,” he said.
I denounce policies that are used to buy political patronage